Noor Riyadh 2022 Festival is returning next month for its second edition, under the theme “We Dream Of New Horizons” and will run from 3rd November until 19th November 2022. The 17 day long event will see the participation of 100 established and modern artists from within Saudi Arabia and over 40 other countries.
Part of the Riyadh Art program, Noor Riyadh 2022 is one of the capital’s four mega projects that had been launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on March 19th 2019, under the leadership and supervision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, prime minister, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Royal Commission for Riyadh, to transform the capital city into an open art exhibition that mixes tradition and modernity. These plans all fall in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
The upcoming art fair includes a simultaneous exhibition in the JAX District in Diriyah, for 3 months from 3rd November 2022 and will run until 4th February 2023. It will offer visitors an opportunity to embark on an artistic journey of creative light transformation in the past and how artists think it will look in the future.
Culture Minister Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan, board member of the Royal Commission for Riyadh and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the “Riyadh Art” program, stated that the Noor Riyadh 2022 Festival will continue to be an annual celebration that encourages and supports creativity from across the world and highlights national and international creative talents. The event is also a platform for emerging Saudi artists to be able to exhibit their works alongside some of the art world’s most prominent modern artists from across the globe whose medium is “light art.”
Under Vision 2030, this year’s Noor Riyadh will see an increase in the number of participating artists in comparison to the inaugural edition last year, and will also see a diverse curation of art works sitting across a larger space in the city.
This year’s theme, “We Dream Of New Horizons,” according to Prince Badr, denotes optimism, positivity, and will reflect the progressive changes that Saudi Arabia is currently going through under the country’s leadership. The art fair will see pieces of work appear across 40 locations across the capital, Riyadh and over 500 activities, including artistic and cultural seminars, and workshops hosted by art experts, both in person and virtually via the Riyadh Art website or phone app.
Noor Riyadh 2022 has been curated by both Saudi and international art curators and experts including, Dorothy Di Stefano, Irvi Mikhailov and Jumana Al-Ghouth, as well as the curators of the accompanying exhibition, Neville Wakefield, and assistant curator Ghaida Al-Muqrin.
